Pressure Is On

Date Published: 17-Jul-2008

THE stakes are huge for both the Galway players and team management in Thurles on Saturday – for heads will roll if they fall to Cork. There is no place to hide, no room to manoeuvre. If the result goes against the Westerners, Ger Loughnane will be banished back to the Banner. It’s as simple as that.

But never mind the Galway team manager: this is a game the Tribesmen can’t afford to lose for several other reasons. Some of these players are around a long time and have repeatedly fallen short of delivering the ultimate prize. The bottom line is that their careers are on the line in Semple Stadium. They have to win or else it’s reasonable to assume that there will be a significant shake up of the panel next year.

What about Ollie Canning? He made the tough call to end his self imposed exile because he believed there was something to come back for; that Galway possessed the armoury to end 20 years in the title wilderness. How will the Portumna man feel if his hunch proves misguided? What about the fans? They would walk around with lead in their boots next week if the team comes up short on Saturday.

The original perception, that if this group of Galway players can’t win an All-Ireland title under Loughnane that they will never win one, may not be as strong now, but there will be no grounds for excuses if a declining Cork outfit emerge triumphant in this weekend’s All-Ireland qualifier (7pm).

The mood in the county is not upbeat, but no local hurling fan is writing off Galway either. They have the capacity to go a long way in the championship and it mustn’t be forgotten that, despite under per-decepforming in the League final, they still got within two points of hurling’s form team at present, Tipperary.

Maybe too big a deal is also being made about…